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Caught in a trap: landscape and climate implications of the insect fauna from a Roman well in Sherwood Forest

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Abstract

Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire is often considered a well-preserved ancient landscape, subsequently having survived by way of centuries of management as a hunting preserve. Archaeological evidence suggests otherwise, with an enclosed landscape beginning in the pre-Roman Iron Age and continuing through the Roman period. Due to the nature of the region’s soils, however, there is little empirical, palaeoecological evidence on its environmental history prior to the medieval period. This paper presents an insect fauna from a Roman well in a small enclosure in north Nottinghamshire, on the edge of Sherwood Forest, and its interpretation in terms of contemporary land use. Wells and small pools act as large pitfall traps and may effectively sample aspects of the local and regional insect fauna. The Wild Goose Cottage fauna and its environmental implications are also compared with a number of archaeologically and geographically similar contexts.

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Acknowledgments

This much overdue publication could not have been written without the ready cooperation of Daryl Garton, formerly of the Trent & Peak Archaeological Trust, who oversaw the original excavation and also commented on the manuscript. Excavation was carried out by members of the Retford Archaeological Group and the field section of the Hunter Archaeological Society, in particular Jan Eccles and Paul Cauldwell, with the ready cooperation of the extraction company, Tarmac. Chris Dyson is thanked for sample processing and sorting in the Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, and identification work was facilitated by access to the entomological collections at Doncaster Museum, whose rapidly diminishing staff are thanked. The authors also benefitted from discussions with the late Derrick Riley and the late Peter Skidmore, both of whom in their different ways have contributed enormously to the elucidation of the previous landscapes of Sherwood and north Nottinghamshire. Additional comments from Keith Alexander and Pat Wagner are also gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. 20 Den Bank Close, S10 5PA, Sheffield, UK

    Paul C. Buckland

  2. Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Umeå University, S-90187, Umeå, Sweden

    Philip I. Buckland

  3. Department of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, UK

    Eva Panagiotakopulu

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Buckland, P.C., Buckland, P.I. & Panagiotakopulu, E. Caught in a trap: landscape and climate implications of the insect fauna from a Roman well in Sherwood Forest. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 10, 125–140 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0338-8

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